Deuteronomy 1: Lessons Regarding Why the Study of God’s Law is Still Relevant Today

Introduction: The name “Deuteronomy” is the English translation of a Greek phrase in the Septuagint “Deuteronomion.” It means “repetition of the law” or “copy of the law.” (Dt. 17:18). Excluding three sermons at the beginning, middle, and end, the vast majority of the book either repeats or expounds upon God’s Law set forth in the first four books of the Torah or Pentateuch. The Deuteronomic code is the heart of the book (Chapters 5 through 26). It was God’s covenant with His people. The word “covenant” appears 27 times in the text. Yet, the book is more than just a restatement of the covenant. It was a covenant of renewal. For a nation that had rebelled and spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, they were in desperate need of renewal. The Deuteronomic code was the path to repentance and renewal. Before they could be renewed and find God’s mercy and grace, they needed to know their sins (Ro. 3:20). As a prologue to this covenant of renewal, Moses begins with three chapters summarizing portions of their time in the wilderness. The three chapters discuss the importance of faith, trust, God’s mercy and grace, and being a Spirit-led leader.

The dangers of legalism. When studying the Law, it is important to note what the Law will not do. It is not a route to salvation. If that were the case, Jesus’ death was not necessary: “if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Gal. 2:21). Long before Jesus ever came, God condemned the Jewish religious leaders who had turned the Law and the festivals into a set of ritualistic obligations. People did what they were told, but their hearts were not in it. “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.” (Amos 5:21; same Is. 66:3). Jesus’ greatest condemnations were therefore directed at religious leaders who turned the Law into a set of legalistic rituals (e.g., Matt. 23:24). We must be careful not to do the same in studying the Law. Jesus came to fulfill the Law (Matt. 5:17). By faith in His atoning death, we are no longer judged under the Law as a condition of our salvation: “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (Ro. 7:6; 8:3). “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Gal. 5:18). But if our salvation is not based upon complying with the Law, why then should we read or study the book of Deuteronomy? Are we simply yoking ourselves to rituals and obligations that we are now free to ignore?

Seven reasons God’s Law remains relevant today. In some areas, the Law has a different application than it did when Moses gave it. For example, instead of offering physical animal, dietary, or clothing sacrifices we are called upon today to make “spiritual sacrifices.” (1 Pet. 2:5). Likewise, for certain civic laws, we look to the principle behind the law in applying it to modern society. In other areas like the laws of morality, sexual purity, and the Ten Commandments, the application of the Law to our lives as a standard to aspire to has not changed. Although the application may differ based upon the kind of law and modern facts and circumstances, the study of God’s Law in this book is vital today for at least several reasons.

1.) The Law brings the knowledge of sin, repentance and renewal.

Through the study of the Law our sins become known to us (Ro. 3:20; 7:7). Once we then repent of them, our covenant can be renewed. If the Law did not apply, there would be no sins for God to reveal to us. If we believe that we are without sin, the truth is not within us (1 Jo. 1:8).

2) Compliance with the Law out of devotion (not obligation) is a sign of your love for Jesus.

Jesus says that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (Jo. 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 Jo. 5:3; 2 Jo. 1:6). “[I]f you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matt. 19:17). He is the great “I AM” who gave Moses the Ten Commandments (Jo. 8:58; Ex. 3:14). As a Jew, He further would not have casually mixed the term “commandments” with “sayings” as some might do in English. The Jews had a reverent hierarchy between the Ten Commandments, the interpretive statutes, and the interpretive ordinances. This was also a distinction that God made to Isaac: “because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” (Gen. 26:5). Yet, Jesus came to correct people’s motives in following the Ten Commandments. He wants your obedience to be motivated by love and not obligation. He therefore summarized the Ten Commandments as something that comes naturally once a person loves the Lord and his or her neighbor (Matt. 22:35-38; Lk. 10:27; Dt. 6:5). Moses taught us to live obediently as it is written. Jesus taught us to love obediently as it is written. Whether we keep the Ten Commandments out of love (and not obligation) is also the test regarding whether we “know” Jesus: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1 Jo. 2:3). Some will come to Jesus boasting of their works or compliance with the Law. Yet, if their works or their compliance with the Law was not motivated by a love for Him, He may respond “I never knew you.” (Matt. 7:23).

3) Voluntary compliance with the Law and the Holy Spirit sets you free from slavery to sin.

If we obey the Law for the right reasons, we become slaves to righteousness. If we do not obey the Law, we become slaves to sin: “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Ro. 6:16). “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”’ (Jo. 8:34). “Therefore, do not let sin rule your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.” (Rom. 6:12). “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Gen. 4:7). If we freely embrace sin, God may eventually hand us over to the lusts of the flesh (Rom. 1:24-28; Eph. 4:19; Ps. 81:12). Thus, He commands that “each of you know how to possess his own vessel [body] in sanctification and honor.” (1 Th. 4:4). Have you become a slave to righteousness? Or, are you leading a double life?

4) Sanctification - compliance with the Law can make us a light to others.

We are commanded to be Holy. “You shall be holy, For I am holy.” (1 Pet. 1:16; Lev. 11:44). When we are holy through moral conduct and a loving heart, we become a light to others (Dt. 4:5-6; Matt. 5:14). Conversely, we dishonor God and repel others when we break the Law: “You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you,’ just as it is written.” (Ro. 2:23-24).

5) The Ten Commandments provide a standard to aspire to, not a means for salvation.

God’s love is unconditional and not tied to how close you come to following the Ten Commandments. Christ died at the cross out of love for sinners (Jo. 3:16). Moreover, the Ten Commandments represent a standard of moral conduct that none can expect to consistently pass (Ro. 3:20). Yet, this does not mean that we should ignore them. They are still the standard of righteousness that believers should aspire to meet out of devotion (and not obligation) toward Christ: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” (2 Tim. 3:16). Without a standard to aspire to, people will do whatever feels right in their own eyes. During the time of the Judges, the people rejected God’s standard of righteousness and adopted Canaanite practices when it suited them. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Jdgs. 21:25; 17:6). For most of the Church’s history, it has been understood that the Ten Commandments still apply as a goal for moral conduct, but not as a test for salvation. In the past, the Church also used its influence to make these Ten Commandments part of civil law. Although the Sabbath was never understood as a test for salvation (Col. 2:16-17), the Church ensured that every state in America set up “blue laws” that limited business hours and the sale of alcohol on Sundays. Yet, in the modern era, some fear that teaching the Ten Commandments as a standard or righteousness will become a slippery slope to making them a test for salvation. As a result, in many churches, the Ten Commandments are not taught at all. Yet, without any standard to aspire to out of devotion, many believers feel comfortable doing whatever feels right in their own eyes. Yet, God warns against doing what feels right in our own eyes. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Prov. 14:12; 16:25; 12:15).

6) The Law brings wisdom and understanding.

In addition to being a standard to aspire to, the study of the Law also brings wisdom and understanding to us: “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”’ (Dt. 4:5-6; see also, Ps. 119:98-105). Only “fools” reject the wisdom of God’s Law (Prov. 1:7).

7) Voluntary compliance with the moral laws can bring certain conditional blessings.

Finally, Moses promises certain “blessings” (not salvation) for those who follow the Law (Dt. 28). Some blessings are unconditional. For example, the blessing of salvation is not conditioned on obedience (Gal. 2:21). But there are other conditional blessings in the Bible. One example is in the area of health: “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” (Ex. 15:26; Lev. 26:3-13; Dt. 28:2-14). Another example of this is in the area of prayer. When you follow the Law out of devotion (not obligation), He can clearly hear your prayers (Jam. 5:16). Conversely, when you openly rebel against Him, your prayers may be “hindered” (1 Pet. 3:7; Jo. 9:31; Ps. 66:18; Prov. 28:9; Isa. 1:15). The reason for this is that sin cannot be in His presence, and He “cannot look on wickedness.” (Hab. 1:13). When you act righteously, your prayers are a sweet aroma (Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8; 8:3). Yet, when you are in open rebellion, your prayers are putrid. We can take comfort that, no matter what we do, God will never leave or forsake a saved believer (Heb. 13:5; Dt. 31:6). Yet, He is not obligated to act upon our prayers if we are not in fellowship with Him. Separately, in the area of curses, the Bible is clear that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (Gal. 3:13). Yet, for a nation, these “curses” may still apply when a nation rebels against God (Lev. 26:14-37; Dt. 27:15-26; 28:15-68). A curse can also be thought of as a form of discipline. God disciplines those who He loves (Heb. 12:6). The curse or discipline can be lifted once a nation repents. This is exactly what happened after the people of Nineveh repented in response to Jonah’s warning (Jonah 3:1-10). Some might find it hard for some to accept the Bible’s statements about curses and blessings. Chapter one therefore begins with a question of faith. Will you believe the book contains the “Words” of Moses, inspired by the Holy Spirit?

Deuteronomy 1: Lessons from the Jews’ Failures of Faith in the Wilderness

1. Have Faith in God’s Word. Dt. 1:1.

Moses begins his final speech

2. Spirit-Led Obedience May Bring Blessings, while Disobedience Brings Sorrow. Dt. 1:2.

3. We Must be Doers of God’s Word. Dt. 1:3-6.

4. God is Faithful to Keep His Promises. Dt. 1:7-8, 10-11.

5. Without Faithful Leaders in God’s Army, the People May Suffer. Dt. 1:9, 12-18.

When you walk with God, you never need to fear evil1

6. To Have Faith, Remember God’s Promises. Dt. 1:19-33; Nu. 13:1-2.

Let God fight your battles for you2

7. Without Faith, We Also Cannot Enter God’s Promised Land. Dt. 1:34-46.